Morning news headlines: One million expected to strike, emergency data laws to be unveiled

The latest news from around the world and the UK

The Government will today be hit by the biggest strike over pay since it came to power when over a million public sector workers will walk out in bitter disputes over pay, pensions, jobs and spending cuts.

Home helps, lollipop men and women, refuse collectors, librarians, dinner ladies, parks attendants, council road safety officers, caretakers and cleaners will be joined by teachers, firefighters, civil servants and transport workers.

Picket lines will be mounted outside courts, council offices, Jobcentres, fire stations and Parliament in outpourings of anger over the coalition’s public sector policies.

EMERGENCY DATA LAWS TO BE UNVEILED

Emergency laws will be rushed through Parliament to allow police and MI5 to probe mobile phone and internet data, it has been reported.

Under the plans to be announced today, phone companies and internet firm will be required to store data for 12 months, The Sun reported.

Home Secretary Theresa May is reported to have struck a deal on the issue with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who had previously resisted efforts to pass legislation to retain data.

WOMAN STABBED TO DEATH AT HOSPITAL

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a member of staff at a hospital was stabbed to death at work.

The victim, who has not been named, was attacked at the inpatient unit of Wotton Lawn Hospital in Gloucester at around 7.30 am yesterday morning.

Police said the woman was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital but died from her injuries an hour later.

FOREIGN OFFICE ACCUSED OF COVER-UP

The Foreign Office was accused of a cover-up after ministers said records of flights passing through an overseas territory used by the United States for extraordinary rendition had been lost to “water damage”.

The US has admitted using Diego Garcia for flights as part of its extraordinary rendition programme for terror suspects on two occasions in 2002.

Foreign Office Minister Mark Simmonds told MPs that only “limited records” for 2002 were available, due to the damage the files had suffered.

MPS CONCERNED OVER CARE REFORMS

The Government “does not fully understand” the scale of the problems faced by local councils and care providers in looking after increasing numbers of elderly and disabled people despite funding cuts, a public spending watchdog said.

Reforms are “risky, are not supported by new money, and do not acknowledge the scale of the problem”, the Commons public accounts select committee said - calling for a more “realistic timetable” for implementation.

The MPs called for better co-ordination between Whitehall departments - for example on the impact of benefit cut and on the increase in welfare spending and reduction in tax revenues caused by millions being forced to give up work to look after relatives.

NHS FINANCES ’AT TIPPING POINT’

The NHS in England could be in a funding crisis before the next general election, an influential think tank has said.

Accounts from 2013/14 show that the system is under “severe financial pressure”, the Nuffield Trust has said.

The independent health charity’s latest report Into the Red states the financial strength of NHS trusts is “weak and declining”.

GOSPORT HOSPITAL DEATHS INQUIRY

A formal inquiry into dozens of suspicious deaths at a hospital in the 1990s will be announced today, a Department of Health spokeswoman confirmed.

The Hillsborough-style inquiry into the deaths of patients, some of whom were elderly, at Gosport War Memorial Hospital in Hampshire, will be led by former Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Rev James Jones.

A written ministerial statement will be published this morning detailing the nature of the inquiry.

FATHER KILLS SIX IN TEXAS SHOOTING

A father opened fire at a suburban Texas home, killing four of his children as well as two adults who were with them and critically wounding his 15-year-old daughter.

The teenager was able to call police and later warned that her father planned to go to her grandparents’ home to kill them, said Deputy Thomas Gilliland of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

The suspected gunman eventually surrendered after a three-hour stand-off with deputies who had cornered him in a nearby street.

RATES EXPECTED TO REMAIN ON HOLD

Interest rates are expected to remain on hold today as policymakers weigh up the mounting arguments for a first change in more than five years.

This week’s meeting of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee (MPC) is the first since governor Mark Carney’s warning in his annual Mansion House speech that rates could rise sooner than markets were expecting.

Minutes from the last two meetings have shown that some members believe the arguments for raising rates have become more balanced as the UK economy recovers and the unemployment situation improves.

NICE BACKS PILL FOR HEAVY DRINKERS

Alcoholics should be offered a once-a-day tablet on the NHS to try to help them curb their addiction, health officials have said.

The drug nalmefene should be made available to heavy drinkers, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said in new draft guidance.

Around 600,000 people across England and Wales could benefit from the drug in their struggle against alcohol addiction, manufacturers Lundbeck estimated.

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